The Platinum Rule
Recap Ted tells the others he is planning on taking out his tattoo removal doctor, Stella Zinman, to a movie. They all think it is a bad idea and Barney explains why. The Platinum Rule means you should never date someone you will see on a regular basis. Barney states that such relationships never work out in the end and lead to never-ending suffering as those involved would constantly see each other. Barney highlights the eight stages which this relationship inevitably goes through and applies his theory on three previous failed relationships: his dating of Wendy the Waitress in 2005, Marshall and Lily befriending their neighbors in 2006, and Robin dating co-anchor Curt Irons in 2007. The stages are: #Attraction #Bargaining #Submission #Perks #Tipping Point #Purgatory #Confrontation #Fall Out #Co-existence (added by Ted) Continuity *Ted thinks another dermatologist, Sarah O'Brien, is perfect for him when Love Solutions shows her to be a good match in . *Without using the term, Barney mentions his Platinum Rule in regarding Carlos and Works With Carlos Girl. *Ted mentions the Lemon Law from and the Hot-Crazy Scale from when ranting about Barney's rules. *Barney apparently attempts to seduce Wendy the Waitress again in , which occurs in 2006, though this attempt is unsuccessful as he is "rack-jacked" by Ted's dad. *Barney tells Ted "Just... O.K.?" *Marshall and Lily's love of brunch is important to . *Ted asks Barney "You've got a meat locker at home full of corpses, don't you?" None of his friends visits Barney's apartment until World's Greatest Couple in 2006. *The gang mocks how long it takes Ted to prepare his hair in . Future References (Contains Spoilers) *Ted's movie "date" with Stella appears in , including her informing him that she is not allowed to date patients due to a rule from the . *Marshall and Lily's search for couple friends appears in , , and . *Ted argues that if his relationship with Stella "does fail...it is not going to be because of some rule." In , Stella leaves Ted at the altar because he violates the rule about never inviting an ex to one's wedding. *In , Ted lets go of his anger at Stella for moving in with Tony after their break-up in the way Future Ted describes when proposing "Co-existence" as the ninth step of the Platinum Rule. *Barney's paranoia about Wendy the Waitress trying to kill him is referenced again in . In the same episode, Robin mentions having lunch with Curt after they break up. Gallery Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *The Girards seems to live in the same apartment as Mrs. Matsen. **However, the Girards could have moved out in the two years between their friendship with Marshall and Lily and Mrs. Matsen's first appearance in season 4. *When playing charades with the Girards during the Tipping Point section both Girards are seen acting out the same clue which is not how you play charades. *Ted claims that the (real) Golden Rule, to do to others as you would want them to do to you, is from the Bible. However, the biblical verse that Ted is referencing is actually much closer to Barney's golden rule than Ted's (Matthew 22:39 "And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’"). Also, Barney's golden rule predates Christianity and can be found in almost all major religions, and was not actually named the "Golden Rule" until the 17th century. Allusions and Outside References *While Robin is dating "the Ironman", she mentions he was able to get them into the hockey locker room, where she met (who is an actual player). *When Barney says that he can't hit on women in his own bar, that he used to be a lion going in for the kill; Ted asks if he has a meat locker at home full of corpses, which is a reference to . Music *Black Tears - * - Other Notes *It was the last episode to be aired before the , which lasted for 100 days. Commentary for this episode was provided by Carter Bays, Pam Fryman (director), and Sue Federman (editor), and much of it focused on how the rest of the staff coped with Bays' and Thomas' absence due to the strike to produce this episode. The commentary is available on the season 3 DVD. *Three nested flashbacks occur: During a 2007 flashback to Robin's story, a 2006 flashback to Marshall and Lily's story occurs, during which a 2005 flashback to Barney's story occurs, ending with him telling the others "Yeah, well, I think it'll be OK". After the flashback ends, Barney concludes "... and it was a huge mistake"; the others' stories end similarly. Guests *Charlene Amoia - Wendy * - Laura Girard *John Sloan - Michael Girard * - Curt "The Ironman" Irons Reception * Omar G at Television Without Pity gave the episode a B.http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/the_platinum_rule.php * Donna Bowman of the rated the episode B+. http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-platinum-rule,12711/ * The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 7.5 stars out of 10. "Barney's classic eight steps." References External Links * * * es:La regla de platino Category:Episodes Category:Season 3